dead ahead


Directly or straight in front of one, as in There's the house, dead ahead. The use of dead in the sense of “straight” dates from the last quarter of the 1800s.

Words Nearby dead ahead

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use dead ahead in a sentence

  • For one breakneck moment Monday, she looked dead ahead and saw her husband surfing toward her, and then down toward the rocks.

  • The clouds that had been above them lay dead ahead; the ship was pointing straight upward.

  • The big whistle boomed again, dead ahead, and so much nearer that it provoked the skipper to lash out a round oath.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
  • But the next whistle they heard sounded dead ahead, and increased in volume of sound only gradually.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
  • "You're right," said the planter, who had not observed that the strong wind would be dead ahead all the way to the anchorage.

    Duffels | Edward Eggleston